How music saved my life

I think we can all agree here: music is awesome. It connects you to people, times and places like nothing else. I know I am not the only one who listens to a certain song and is transported right back to a place; the memory so vivid it sometimes brings tears. Shakira's 'Waka waka' never ceases to make my heart fill with pride for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in SA. I remember the feeling of pride and excitement and there have been times where I have shed a tear in the memory of the seeming unity South Africans shared during that time. There are songs which remind me of being with the boys in Europe or road tripping around the Eastern Cape last year. I love the feeling music brings, the memories it holds.

But music took on a whole new meaning when I left home. My iPod literally saved my life. Without the sound of my favourite bands to drown out the silence and isolation I initially felt, I might have gone crazy. Even my dad told me to put my iPod in and try to relax when I was freaking out about being left in my apartment. I spend a LOT of time thinking in the car to and from school and this has struck me on a number of occasions - how music affects every part of my life. I might not be able to sing particularly well or play an instrument; I might not be the most clued up music lover but the appreciation I have for it is vast. And there are times when I think that if someone walked in on me shaking it to some Roxette or belting out to Adele I would want to die but that's what makes me happy on the inside :) So what if you don't like my music - I do!

For anyone thinking of taking on something like this, take your music. Do not leave without something you can put on to drown out the world. Or silence in my case. I play my music every morning (also a defense against getting a song like the 1st grade "I eat apples and bananas every day" stuck in my head) and have now discovered the beauty of live audio streaming to listen to the radio stations back home. I have South African music, accents and adverts blasting through my room now - I love it!

As someone's Facebook status said once: Turn on the music to tune out the world.